{Straight From the Heart} *Does Anybody Care* 2/7/00
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Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"
If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to
forward it on to family and friends. If this has been passed along
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I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, so feel free to
write me (Michael T. Powers) and let me know what you think!
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Before we get to today's mail I wanted to wish a very, very special
young lady, Kristin Monroe, a happy 19th birthday. She will always
hold a special place in our hearts, and Kristi and I are hoping that
she had a good birthday yesterday! We love ya Kristin!
And to make her birthday a little more memorable, I invite everyone
to email her with birthday greetings at:
monrkb06@uwgb.edu
But before you do that check out the following link to read a little
more about Kristin and find out how truly special she really is!
The story describes her 18th birthday party and how my wife and
Kristin's family, included me in the celebration.
Kristin's 18th Birthday!
http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/big30.html
Now on to today's mail!
Michael
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We continue our series by Debra Adler on infertility and dealing with
all that goes with it. Next Monday Deb will conclude her journey to
motherhood.
"The Ache Is There, Does Anybody Care" Part 3
"The Ache Is There, Does Anybody Care," transpired from events that happened
while my husband and I went through several years of infertility.
Family members, church members and friends all misunderstood the pain of
infertility. It was more than the misunderstanding, it was people not
wanting to understand or think you over react when you are sad when it
doesn’t happen again after the umpteenth time. I had become numb to
comments after a while, whether it be positive or negative. I was so
lost in the emotion of wanting to get pregnant, that I couldn’t see past
the pain. Sometimes there was a friend or two that would listen, but
for the most part I felt very alone. There was a time when after
getting off all of the fertility medications that emotions began to
settle, and I started to feel like a normal person again. My husband
and I began to look into adoption when finally after a long awaited four
years, I was pregnant!!!! The people that I thought didn’t care were
there for me, hugging me, crying with me, congratulating me and excited
for me. Maybe they just didn’t know how to minister to me while I was
going through the pain. Maybe I was so lost in pain I didn’t see the
simple ways that they were trying to understand.
The pregnancy started out extremely scary when at 6 weeks along I
started to experience some sharp pains in my abdomen. As I requested an
internal ultrasound, the doctor on call could not find the baby and was
concerned that it was possible a tubal pregnancy. He said that women
who get pregnant after several years of infertility tend to have
tubals. Not something I was prepared to hear. I was pretty hysterical
to say the least - already panicking. The decision at that time was to
check hormone levels in my blood work to see if the pregnancy was
progressing. If it was progressing they had to determine if it was
progressing in my tube. The waiting, although was only 4 days, felt
like an eternity. They found out the baby was definitely growing
according to my hormone levels doubling but the clinic had to wait until
Friday to give me the ultrasound. I prayed and cried for several days.
And the people that I felt weren’t there during the infertility, were
there praying with me and right along side me as we waited for the
results. As Friday came, I was extremely nervous and kept waiting for
the worst of results. Maybe this was a protection mechanism kicking in
so I wouldn’t be so shocked when I would receive the news. My Pastor,
Jeff Williams, who kept telling me that he believed that this time things were
different, proceeded to keep his schedule open for me (he’s always been
there for me) in case something was wrong. The doctor had the surgery
all scheduled for that day to remove the baby from my tubes if they
could not find the baby. That just shows how sure the doctors were that
this pregnancy was a tubal.
As I hesitated to walk into the room with the ultrasound machine, my
husband stood by my side as they started the process. My heart felt as
it were going to beat out of my chest. It was almost unrealistic when
the technician turned the screen toward me within seconds of starting
the ultrasound and said those long awaited words......There’s your baby
Mrs. Adler and measurements look like everything is progressing normally.
I was ecstatic and crying all at the same time. As soon as I could, I ran to
the pay phone and first called my parents who were worried and then
called my pastor. I knew he was waiting and praying. He was really
excited and happy for us. I’ll never forget just what a miracle this
baby was. The miracle conception, now the miracle pregnancy.......stay
tuned for our miracle birth story. It wasn’t like the baby had scared
us enough....he was going to continue to scare us until he was born.
Debra Adler
Hunsun@ticon.net
Email Debra and let her know what you thought about today's story!
A little bit about Debra:
Debra Adler is 31 years old and resides in the country just outside of
Afton, Wisconsin with her supportive husband Stephen (36 years old) of
eight years and her son Caleb, who is now 2 years old. Stephen has been
in trucking for the last 10 years but his deepest passion would be to
get back into flying some time in the future. Caleb is our adorable son
that is a blessing and a miracle that God has given to us after several
years of trying to conceive. His favorite hobbies are playing ball
("baw" as he says), vacuuming the carpet, playing on his slide outside,
and playing in Mommy's spices. Debby is a busy housewife, Mommy and
Church Secretary with a full schedule. She enjoys singing, baking,
writing from her heart, doing Bible Study and scrap booking her son's
pictures. She is passionate about everything she does, especially being
a mother. One day she would like to write a book about their
infertility story and the dream that Steve and Deb would never give up
on...having a child of their own.
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REQUESTS:
From: sherbie1@webtv.net (Deanna)
1. My uncle was going to be taken out of ICU this morning. My mom went
out to San Francisco to see him. She just called and said he died at 9pm
last night. Please pray for his family.
2. My son's friend has been in ICU for three weeks. He worked the 11pm
to 7am shift with her for years. She was going to have some lab tests
done, but collasped in the parking lot. She had a stroke but no warning
signs whatsoever.
My son & I went to the hospital last week & were allowed to see her. She
is in a coma. She has a son & that isthe only family member she has.
Please pray for her & her son.
Thanks!
Deanna
From: Schroeder631@aol.com (Greg)
My brother Matt just had brain surgery to remove a tumor on Thursday, and according
to the hospital all is well..... But because of the surgery part of
his brain has swelled up a little where they took the tumor out and
his leg might be kinda paralyzed...... Also he might have a blood
problem where they took out the tumor but we don't know...... I was
just wondering if everyone could pray for him..........thank you for
your time......
Greg
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Thought For The Day:
"One reason the dog has so many friends: he wags his tail instead of
his tongue."
Verse for the Day:
"An evil man sows strife; gossip separates the best of friends."
Proverbs 16:28
Kid's Thought For The day:
"Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"A good marriage is the union of two forgivers."
(Ruth Bell Graham)
Coach's Thought For The Day
I know that my basketball team is going to moan when I say this, but
the following quote is one of my all time favorites!
(Sorry Megan!)
"Sports is life with the volume up. The friendships in sports are
fused more tightly than in most places. The laughter is louder, the
jokes funnier, the pain sharper, the nights later, the lows lower.
Athletics teach us that life, although unpredictable, is something we
can deal with. A team nods when it wins and shrugs when it loses and
wakes up to a new and different game each day."
(Mark Whicker, sports columnist)
Deep Thought For The Day:
On a sign outside a church:
"This is a C H _ _ C H ... what's missing?"
_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html
/_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
\_\/\ \ Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live for the Son
\_\/ of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Video Imagery (Michael's Video Production Business.)
"I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch the video
we gave them. They loved it, to say the least! Within thirty
seconds my mom was crying and my dad did too. They said it was
the best Christmas gift we could have given them!! You did such
a beautiful job! They were so suprised and so touched---they
really, really, really loved it. Thanks for helping to make it so
special to us all. My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect for
the video too! Thanks again!"
Kelli (RKaGe@aol.com) College Station, TX
Let me make you a video from your pictures or home movies!
Check out the web page for Michael's video production business!
Video Imagery
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html